The story is told of a man who liked to just open his Bible and read the first verse that came to him as though it were a message of God directly to him. The first verse he happened to turn to was Matthew 27:5, which says Judas “went away and hanged himself.” Since he was not sure how this verse applied to himself, he flipped to another passage and the Bible fell open to Luke 10:37, “Then said Jesus to him, ‘Go, and do the same.’” The man was quite upset, and he did not know how he could ever obey that, so he decided to turn to one more place. Again, he opened the Bible at random and to his horror his finger fell upon John 13:27, “Therefore said Jesus to him, ‘What you do, do quickly.’”
While this may be a humorous story, there are some who are coming to the Bible this way looking to find a message from God and are leaving more confused. Not because God was not communicating, but rather they did not know how to read the message. Have you ever thought, “How can there be so many different ideas about the same book?” Two groups can study the Bible and come away with contradicting claims of God’s truth. When Jesus was asked a question by a lawyer, His response was, “What does the Law say? How do you read it?” (Luke 10:26). Jesus spoke well in asking how the lawyer read the law. Everyone is reading the same book, but not all are reading it the same way. There are some basic things that we can keep in mind when reading that will help us understand the message.
Is it in the old covenant or new covenant? The old covenant is no longer binding today (Heb. 8:13). While the information is important, it is not binding on us today as an ecumenical code. What is the immediate context of the verse? You would find that information by reading the chapter. Then, you will need to find the context of the book that it is in. You will need to read that book and see how that verse fits in the overall message. See if you can put what you have learned into the context of the overall message of the Bible. You will also need to determine what form of writing is being used. Is it poetry? Is it narrative? Is it figurative? Is it prophetic? All of these will be read differently.
Finally, direct commands, examples and inference play a part in ascertaining God’s will. Direct commands are the “thou shalt and thou shalt not” type. Examples are taken as authoritative as we seek to mimic the “form of doctrine” that was originally taught and practiced (Rom. 6:17). Inference is that which is implied. God so loved the world, and I am in the world, therefore God so loved me.
All of these play a part in us understanding God’s will. Properly used, they will keep us from hanging ourselves.